Raindrops
by saffiremoon21
Summary: A legend is told about a fire demon who preys on women...But maybe there's more to it than just that....ROYAI, AU
1. Chapter 1

This is a very odd idea I had while I was reading something. It's starring my two favorite characters, Roy and Riza, and unlike my other stories, this will be completed because I actually have an ending in mind. Nothing too graphic in the story yet, but it will later on, blood, and suggestiveness and whatnot. No spoilers for the series.

I don't own FMA .

**She'd heard** the stories of course, everyone had. You couldn't grow up in the town ofSeiryin without hearing them. She hadn't ever really believed them, though. The tale of a demon who could throw fire using only a pair of magicked bracelets seemed too far-fetched to her, even though strange things certainly happened around town now and then.

But a fire-thrower? Until a few days ago, she'd thought it was only a story used to frighten young children, to keep them from wandering towards the forest. It was common sense of course. Anyone could tell that there was _something _in there, and at the very least, it was dark, and the breeze never seemed to quite ruffle the leaves of the trees in the dark forest the same way it did with the ones that grew in the sunlight.

So yes, maybe it hadn't been the best idea to go there alone, especially at night. But she hadn't really been thinking clearly, and most of all, she'd wanted to be alone.

Alone, yes. Away from her increasingly nerve-wracking, if well-meaning, family. Away to the silence that she wanted so much.

And the silence that held danger.

She'd tried to fight back, but, for reasons she could never quite recall, she'd left her guns at home. And try as she might, she could never fight off five men unarmed. To her surprise, they didn't knock her unconscious, but instead they together dragged her, still kicking and trying to get lose, to the heart of the forest. It soon got so dark that she couldn't see at all, though she still struggled in vain, hoping maybe that if she caused them enough trouble, they'd change their minds and let her go.

No such luck. They seemed reluctant to hurt her, though, and for the most part, subdued her with minimal force. She caught a few murmurs of "You know he wants 'em untouched", and that only made her worry more. Frantic thoughts raced through her head, and she reflected bitterly that she hadn't really done all that much during her time on Earth. _Well, I certainly never thought I'd reach my end this way. I always thought I'd die of old age. Wishful thinking, I guess…_

She was rudely jerked back to reality when they threw her onto the floor. A cold, slightly wet, stone floor. Her back hurt where the rough stones rubbed through the thin fabric of her shirt.

"Here," one of the men tossed her a long, dark red dress of some sort of silky material. Despite the darkness it still shimmered oddly when she held it. "Put it on. You have to look nice for him, you know." He grinned at her, showing two rows of yellow teeth, some missing. When she glared at him, he only chuckled and turned around. The rest of the men followed suit. "Hurry up and change. Don't try nothing funny either."

Riza held up the dress and frowned. It didn't seem like she had much of a choice but at least if she was going to die, she'd die looking pretty…

After she'd changed into the dress, the man with yellow teeth grinned at her again. "Pull your hair down, sweet heart. Or I'll do it for you."

She had to stop herself from taking a step backwards. He smelled terrible. Hands trembling, she undid the clip that held her hair up and let the long blonde strands fall down against her shoulders. Yellow Teeth grinned again, and roughly pulled her behind him. "Looks like you're ready now, princess. Enjoy your last few moments of being alive." He sneered at her face as he shoved her through a set of huge iron doors. Riza reached out, but the doors slammed shut before she could step forward.

_Another? Yet another one, sent here to tempt me? And…even more beautiful than any woman I've ever seen before…_A dark figure with pale skin and black hair and eyes blinked slowly, watching Riza sink to her feet in front of the huge doors. _There's something…different about her. Something I haven't felt in any human before. Somehow…I can't. I can't harm her. There's no way I can turn her. She can…help me. If only…I can get her to trust me…_She hadn't noticed him yet. She was still kneeling in front of the doors, as if she could somehow make them open again. _She really is beautiful…even in despair…_

If I get a lot of reviews, I'll update sooner. XD I know it's really weird, but I hope some of you like it. If it's confusing, let me know, and I'll try and change it so it's better.


	2. Chapter 2

When the doors slammed shut in her face, it felt like the end of her life. She was trapped down here, in the damp, dark and cold. Despite herself, she started crying. Riza Hawkeye almost never cried, but the thought of dying down here, with no one from the land above to ever know what had happened to her.

A rustling from a dark spot of the room grabbed her attention. Hurriedly wiping the tears from her face, she twisted around to see…what looked like an almost ordinary man, perhaps a little older than her, in his late twenties. But there was something definetly odd about him. He was rather pale, and his dark hair fell in front of his face, obscuring most of it. But she could easily make out his eyes, which, although they were as black as his hair, seemed lit from within with an inhuman light.

Any normal person would have screamed. Riza wasn't sure why she didn't. She was practically looking death in the face, after all. But he didn't make a move to come any closer, even though he met her eyes levelly.

"You don't need to look so frightened."

He spoke softly, almost as if talking to a scared animal. She got the distinct impression that he _was_ trying to calm her down.

It wasn't working, that was for sure. Children practically grew up on terrifying stories of demons, and it was hard to forget them all. Riza stood up quickly, and reached for her guns. She didn't remember until it was too late that she didn't have them with her, and she almost tripped over the long hem of her dress.

"Who are you?"

"Do you need to ask? I thought everyone above knew the story about the terrible fire demon."

She paused. She hadn't expected him to talk to her, at least, not any more than something like "I will destroy you" or such things.

"I…I…wanted to know…your..name…"

Where had THAT come from? Desperation, she thought gloomily. Maybe if I talk to him, he won't kill me…

Black eyes flashed up at her from where he still sat.   
"My name? You can call me…Roy." He blinked at her, then sighed. "I already told you. There's no need to be scared. I…I can't hurt you."

She glared at him, forgetting her fear momentarily.

"What do you mean, you can't? Nothing stopped you from killing those other girls!"

He turned a little grey, and pulled his eyes away. He looked almost…sick, she realized.

"I…didn't want to kill them," Roy whispered, brushing his fingertips over the gold bracelet he wore on each wrist, each link shaped like small flames. "I…didn't really have a choice…When…" His voice trailed off, and he bowed his head, so she couldn't see his face anymore.

"When? When WHAT?" She was surprised to find herself getting angry. The thought of him..trying to shirk the blame, almost, made her want to march over and shake him. Luckily, she kept enough of her mind calm and stayed where she was.

Roy sighed again, and forced himself to look at her.

"You noticed that the floors are damp, yes? I…lose the part of myself that makes me human when…I…come into contact with water…"

Rather shortish chapter, but yeah, I had to update, or I have the feeling I'd be killed. I promise that this will make more sense as I go on! Sorry if the characters are OOC, it's hard to write them properly in these kind of situations. Thanks to all my reviewers, I appreciate your comments very much! THANK YOU!


	3. Chapter 3

Yay. I'm updating. For the first time since…forever. This is good practice for creative writing though, and it's so much fun…Forgive me if it seems kind of hard to understand, or feels different from the last two chapters. My writing style has rather changed…And YES, this is an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE fic. And…it kinda is spoilerishy, if you don't know who the REAL bad person in FMA is…Major thanks to everyone who reviewed wanting to know what in the earth this story was about XD

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"Water? Any…water? Can't you…drink then?" And although she didn't say it out loud, _Human? Part of you is human? The stories…they never mentioned that._

He shook his head slightly, letting his long bangs fall into his eyes.

"Just rain water. Pure rain, and less than a few hours fallen. Anything else has no effect."

Roy smiled slightly and tipped his head back, watching her.

"And yes…I am human…or I was once. A very long time ago."

She tried to meet his gaze without shivering and failed. His eyes seemed made of nothing but complete darkness, fathomless and incomprehensible.

"What happened to you?"

As soon as she said it, she wished she hadn't. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

He never got a chance to answer. The heavy doors slammed open, revealing a slightly built woman with very pale green hair and a pruny, beaming face. She was dressed immaculately, in sharp contrast to Roy's tattered clothes. The thing that drew Riza's eyes though, was a small pitcher in the woman's hands. Roy saw it too; she could tell because he drew his breath in sharply and took a step back. The old woman smiled sweetly and looked straight at Riza.

"He must like you, sweetling. I can see why. There is a beauty about you, child, and it draws one closer. Unfortunately…you must die…"

And with that, she hurled the pitcher straight at Roy.

Riza couldn't scream. It was all happening way too fast for her to understand, and all she could do, really, was stand and watch as the rain water flew straight at Roy. He didn't even try to avoid it, just braced himself as the glass pitcher crashed into him, the water spraying his face, and the shards slashing at his skin. The change wrought by the rain water was immediately evident. His eyes changed from their light-swallowing black into a brilliant shade of flame. He lunged towards Riza, hands outstretched, and the glittering gold bracelets on his arms caught a sudden flash of light and threw back a blinding ray straight into her face.

Instinctively, she pulled her hands up, to block the light, to try in vain to protect herself from him. The instant they touched, she tensed up, sure that he could tear her to pieces, singe her to ashes, something unspeakably horrible and suitable exactly to the legend of the fire demon.

A few seconds later she opened her eyes. Roy's own eyes were now back to their normal shade, and although he was still balanced precariously on top of her, for he'd knocked her down with the force of his attack, he seemed confused more than anything else.

"What happened?"

They both spoke at the same time. Riza felt the bite of warm metal into her skin, and realized that she was clutching his wrists. She let go of him, and he stood up, then held out his hand for her. She stood up, shakily, trying to get her breath back.

When she looked in the doorway for the old woman, there was no one there.


	4. Chapter 4

I had a better beginning to this chapter, but I lost it. Oopsie. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!!!

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Riza wasn't sure what to say. Roy was still breathing hard, and was now watching her warily. Rain drops still dripped from his long bangs, and she knew he hadn't been feigning that lunge, or the change in his eye color. The only reason he'd stopped, as far as she could tell, was because he'd touched her.

"What happened?" She asked again, softer this time.

He shook his head.

"I do not know. I…there is something strange about you. I know there is; I felt it from the moment you came in here. Whatever it is, it is keeping me from hurting you."

They stared at each other for a few moments in silence, each wondering about the other, and trying to figure out what was going on. Finally, Riza broke the silence, even though she knew he wouldn't be able to answer her question.

"The woman who was here before, where did she go?"

"I think she left, thinking that I would come after her when I was done with you…strong as she is in magic, she could not defeat me when I am…with the flame."

Roy took a tentative step towards the cavernous doors, and then looked back over his shoulder at her.

"You have to come with me. I am not sure if I can make it…without you."

Her look, one of terror mixed with disbelief and confusion, made him sigh.

"You do not want to stay here, do you? We had better get out as soon as we can…unless you want to wait for her to come back. She will, eventually."

"But…you…you killed people! Hundreds of people! How could I ever trust you? How do I know that this isn't all some weird trap, and as soon as I leave this room, you won't rip me to shreds?"

Tears leaked out from her eyes. It had been a little too much to deal with at one time. Moments ago, she had thought she had seen her death, death in the form of a young man with flames in his eyes. Death from a dark and violent legend.

And now the fire demon wanted to help her? To come with her back to her world?

It all seemed a little too good of an ending for her, compared to how the story was so far.

She almost screamed when she felt something warm wrap around her. Roy was still dripping wet, both from the rain water and from the blood of cuts made by flying glass, but he burned with an internal heat that seeped into her, comforted her.

"Do not worry. I am sure…that everything will work out, somehow. You must…be strong for both of us. We…could not make it outside without each other."

He pulled away to meet her eyes.

"I trust you. I...I do not even know your name, but..." He shook his head slightly as she opened her mouth. "No. Do not tell me, not yet. The ones who would want to harm us...they could use your name against you. It is best that I know as little about you as possible."

Another pause.

"Will you come with me? Will you help me find my way up to the sunlight? It has been a very long time...since I felt the sun."


End file.
